5,000 people have participated in a high-profile gay pride event in the capital of Latvia, a former Soviet country. (Oksana Dzadan, AP / AP)

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Up to 5,000 people have participated in a high-profile gay pride event in the capital of Latvia, a former Soviet country.

Participants in colorful outfits waved rainbow flags and standards from Spain, Britain, Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia, among others, as they marched and danced to loud music.

The event is aimed at raising awareness of homosexual, bisexual and transgender rights in eastern Europe, where there is marked intolerance of LGBT groups. A 2013 Russian law bans promotion of same-sex gay values to minors.

Organizer Alexander Ivanajevs said the event shows LGBT people “are similar people to everybody else.”

Police say three people with a counter-demonstration were arrested in connection with the event.